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Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick has admitted to using the weight loss jab Ozempic but said he “didn’t particularly enjoy it”.

The former immigration minister confirmed he took the medication for around six weeks last autumn to slim down.

Politics live: Govt under fire over airport decision

He said it was “helpful” but he has since focused on losing weight “in the normal way” by eating healthier food and exercising more.

“To be honest, I was overweight,” Mr Jenrick told Politico.

“I took Ozempic for a short period of time, didn’t particularly enjoy it, but it was helpful.

“Since then, I’ve just lost weight in the normal way by eating less, eating more healthily, doing some exercise – going to the gym, going running. I’ve lost four stone in 12 months.”

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Mr Jenrick was addressing rumours about his sudden weight loss since leaving government.

He resigned as immigration minister in December over Rishi Sunak’s failure to get the Rwanda asylum scheme up and running.

He is now vying to replace the former prime minister as Tory leader following the party’s hammering at the general election.

Read more: Who is running to replace Sunak as Tory leader?

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick reportedly felt the mural gave the impression the UK was 'welcoming' to asylum seekers crossing the Channel
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Mr Jenrick used the drug for six weeks last autumn. The then immigration minister, pictured in 2023. Pic: PA

Another leadership contender, Tom Tugendhat, recently denied using the medication but said he had been off booze for a year and was under instruction from his wife to “stay off bread and potatoes” in a bid to get lean.

Ozempic, a weekly injection initially designed to treat type 2 diabetes, has been touted by celebrities and social media influencers as a “miracle drug” for weight loss.

Delivered via an injection into the skin, the drug makes people feel fuller and more satisfied, so they eat less.

Last year, former prime minister Boris Johnson revealed he had taken the medication to stop his late-night “cheddar and chorizo” fridge raids, after noticing colleagues had shed some weight because of the drug.

“For weeks I jabbed my stomach, and for weeks it worked,” he wrote in his Daily Mail column.

“Effortlessly, I pushed aside the puddings and the second helpings. I must have been losing four or five pounds a week – maybe more.”

However, Mr Johnson said he eventually stopped taking Ozempic due to side effects (which can commonly include nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting), though he didn’t go into detail about what those were.

Read more from Sky News:
What are the weight loss injections?
Stephen Fry reveals weight-loss drug made him vomit

Is Ozempic available on the NHS?

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New weight loss drugs explained

Ozempic is only available on the NHS for people with type two diabetes.

Last year Wegovy, which has the same active ingredient (semaglutide), was given the green light to be prescribed for weight loss with strict criteria around who can get the drugs.

Pharmacists have reported a shortage of the drug because of its sudden surge in popularity – plus the fact some medics are prescribing it off-label for obese people.

This has led to those with diabetes finding it more difficult to access, while also fuelling a rise in counterfeit jabs.

Professor Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, has recently expressed alarm at people misusing the drug as a “quick fix” to “lose a few pounds”, saying they should only be taken with medial supervision.

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UK on ‘slippery slope’ to ‘death on demand’, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood warns ahead of assisted dying vote

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UK on 'slippery slope' to 'death on demand', Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood warns ahead of assisted dying vote

The UK is on a “slippery slope towards death on demand”, according to the justice secretary ahead of a historic Commons vote on assisted dying.

In a letter to her constituents, Shabana Mahmood said she was “profoundly concerned” about the legislation.

“Sadly, recent scandals – such as Hillsborough, infected blood and the Post Office Horizon – have reminded us that the state and those acting on its behalf are not always benign,” she wrote.

“I have always held the view that, for this reason, the state should serve a clear role. It should protect and preserve life, not take it away.

“The state should never offer death as a service.”

Analysis: Justice secretary’s intervention is potentially embarrassing for the PM

On 29 November, MPs will be asked to consider whether to legalise assisted dying, through Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

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Minister ‘leans’ to assisted dying bill

Details of the legislation were published last week, including confirmation the medicine that will end a patient’s life will need to be self-administered and people must be terminally ill and expected to die within six months.

Ms Mahmood, however, said “predictions about life expectancy are often inaccurate”.

“Doctors can only predict a date of death, with any real certainty, in the final days of life,” she said. “The judgment as to who can and cannot be considered for assisted suicide will therefore be subjective and imprecise.”

Read more: Gordon Brown says assisted dying should not be legalised

Under the Labour MP’s proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.

The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.

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Details of end of life bill released

Read more: Where does the cabinet stand on assisted dying?

However, Ms Mahmood said she was concerned the legislation could “pressure” some into ending their lives.

“It cannot be overstated what a profound shift in our culture assisted suicide will herald,” she wrote.

“In my view, the greatest risk of all is the pressure the elderly, vulnerable, sick or disabled may place upon themselves.”

Kim Leadbeater waits to present the Assisted Dying Bill. File pic: House of Commons/Reuters
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Kim Leadbeater waits to present the Assisted Dying Bill. File pic: House of Commons/Reuters

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who put forward the bill, said some of the points Ms Mahmood raised have been answered “in the the thorough drafting and presentation of the bill”.

“The strict eligibility criteria make it very clear that we are only talking about people who are already dying,” she said.

“That is why the bill is called the ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’; its scope cannot be changed and clearly does not include any other group of people.

“The bill would give dying people the autonomy, dignity and choice to shorten their death if they wish.”

In response to concerns Ms Mahmood raised about patients being coerced into choosing assisted death, Ms Leadbeater said she has consulted widely with doctors and judges.

“Those I have spoken to tell me that they are well equipped to ask the right questions to detect coercion and to ascertain a person’s genuine wishes. It is an integral part of their work,” she said.

In an increasingly fractious debate around the topic, multiple Labour MPs have voiced their concerns.

In a letter to ministers on 3 October, the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case confirmed “the Prime Minister has decided to set aside collective responsibility on the merits of this bill” and that the government would “therefore remain neutral on the passage of the Bill and on the matter of assisted dying”.

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‘Immediate action’ taken after blueprints of prisons in England and Wales leaked on dark web

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'Immediate action' taken after blueprints of prisons in England and Wales leaked on dark web

“Immediate action” is being taken after blueprints of jail layouts were shared online.

The maps detailing the layouts of prisons in England and Wales were leaked on the dark web over the past fortnight, according to The Times.

The detailed information is said to include the locations of cameras and sensors, prompting fears they could be used to smuggle drugs or weapons into prisons or help inmates plan escapes.

Security officials are now working to identify the source of the leak and who might benefit from the details.

The Ministry of Justice did not disclose which prisons were involved in the breach.

A government spokesperson said in a statement: “We are not going to comment on the specific detail of security matters of this kind, but we are aware of a breach of data to the prison estate and, like with all potential breaches, have taken immediate action to ensure prisons remain secure.”

The leak comes amid a chronic prison overcrowding crisis, which has led to early release schemes and the re-categorising of the security risks of some offenders to ease capacity pressures.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is launching a sentencing review in a bid to ease the crisis.

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Starmer says UK will ‘set out a path’ to raise defence spending to 2.5% in spring

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Starmer says UK will 'set out a path' to raise defence spending to 2.5% in spring

The UK will “set out a path” to lift defence spending to 2.5% of national income in the spring, the prime minister has said, finally offering a timeframe for an announcement on the long-awaited hike after mounting criticism.

Sir Keir Starmer gave the date during a phone call with Mark Rutte, the secretary general of NATO, in the wake of threats by Moscow to target UK and US military facilities following a decision by London and Washington to let Ukraine fire their missiles inside Russia.

There was no clarity though on when the 2.5% level will be achieved. The UK says it currently spends around 2.3% of GDP on defence.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte and  Keir Starmer, during a trilateral meeting in 10 Downing Street.
Pic: PA
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Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sir Keir Starmer and NATO boss Mark Rutte in October. Pic: PA

Ukraine war latest: Follow live updates

A spokeswoman for Downing Street said that the two men “began by discussing the situation in Ukraine and reiterated the importance of putting the country in the strongest possible position going into the winter”.

They also talked about the deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers to fight alongside Russia.

“The prime minister underscored the need for all NATO countries to step up in support of our collective defence and updated on the government’s progress on the strategic defence review,” the spokeswoman said.

“His government would set out the path to 2.5% in the spring.”

The defence review will also be published in the spring.

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While a date for an announcement on 2.5% will be welcomed by the Ministry of Defence, analysts have long warned that such an increase is still well below the amount that is needed to rebuild the armed forces after decades of decline to meet growing global threats from Russia, an increasingly assertive China, North Korea and Iran.

They say the UK needs to be aiming to hit at least 3% – probably higher.

With Donald Trump returning to the White House, there will be significantly more pressure on the UK and other European NATO allies to accelerate increases in defence spending.

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